In the exercise industry, a relatively homogenous group of people frequent fitness centers and use exercise equipment. These people include fitness-minded individuals in the middle to upper income level with a concern about their health. Currently, there is not an effective way to tailor the marketing of products and services to these individuals based upon their common interest in fitness and frequent visits to the gym. Accordingly, fitness centers generate little or no marketing revenue for advertising to their membership the products and services of other companies.
Conversely, the Internet provides a conduit for delivering marketing and other information however does not provide an efficient way to tie marketing information with a homogenous group of individuals. Unfortunately, many portals and other websites have attempted to do this varied success. The costs associated with large advertising campaigns on television, radio and even the Internet urging people to visit a website often exceed any revenue stream they could reasonably generate. In particular, there are no existing systems capable of tying together customers in the exercise industry with the power and direct marketing capabilities of the Internet.
Others have clearly failed to recognize the capabilities of using the Internet in the fitness industry and with fitness equipment. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,509 concerns controlling exercise equipment remotely and U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,839, merely aggregates existing functions on a computer connected to the Internet with an exercise bicycle.